Fire
From NRVRA
Contents |
How does the fire safety system work at NRV?
Building Regulations 2000 (also see Building Regulations 2000 Approved Documents ) and BS 5588 Pt.1 set the criteria for the fire safety strategy at New River Village, the basis for residential buildings is to avoid an uncontrolled evacuation, which could be caused by audible alarms within communal corridors.
The criteria set the principal that unless a fire is within an occupant’s own flat occupants are to remain within their accommodation.
- If the fire is within an apartment there is a heat detector within the kitchen/reception and smoke detector in the hall these detectors do have audible alarms to alert the occupant of fire so they can exit.
- Each apartment is fire rated so that any fire is contained, and separated from the rest of the building for a period of at least 30mins. (Walls and floors and 60mins)
- The maximum distance from any point in a room to a protected fire escape is 9 metres.
- Each entrance door to a unit leads into a communal hallway, once entering there will be a choice of two escape routes.
- Any unit, which passes into a dead-end corridor, which leave occupants only one route of escape, has a travel distance to the staircase, limited to 7.5 metres.
- Dead-end corridors have been fitted with automatic smoke vents, which are activated off smoke detectors within the corridors, to remove smoke from these areas.
- All staircases lead to external doors and are protected from flats by a minimum of two doors. All staircases are ventilated, either through automatic or manual vents at the top of the stairs.
The smoke detectors, heat detectors and break glass in the communal corridors operate a smoke ventilation system. This is either automatic opening vents (AOVs) or vertical shafts to allow smoke to escape in the event of a fire. The break glasses and fire alarm panel at ground floor level are for fire brigade use only. In addition there are manual vents for fire brigade use at the top of the stairs and some window vents.
In a rare case that a full evacuation is required this will only be ordered by the officer in charge. The fire brigade require that an uncontrolled evacuation does not happen as any panic could cause further risk of injury.
Is there an Audible Fire Alarm Installed inside my Flat?
Yes. There are audible smoke and/or heat detectors within each private residence. Exact specifications may vary slightly between flats. These detectors will make a loud piercing noise when they detect excessive smoke/heat within the immediate surrounding area of the internal sensor.
The detectors are run on mains electricity, with a battery backup system in case of power outages. It is "usual" for the alarm to make beeping noises at regular intervals when the battery requires changing.
It is strongly advised that you check your smoke/heat detectors regularly to confirm that they are working. It is not advisable to tamper with, or cover any detector. This could void your building and contents insurance in the case of a fire causing damage to you and/or your property.
What is the difference between a smoke and heat detector?
Basically, one detects smoke, and the other detects heat increases, but see below for the expanded version.
Smoke detectors are self-contained fire alarm devices that consist of electrical components that include a smoke sensing chamber, an alarm sounding appliance, and are either battery operated or are connected to a separate power supply source. There are two types of smoke detectors - either ionization or photoelectric. Some detectors combine both types of sensors within the same unit. Tests have shown that ionization detectors respond slightly faster to open flaming fires while photoelectric detectors respond faster to smoldering fires but both normally respond within seconds of each other.
http://firemarshal.utah.gov/safety/smoke.pdf
A heat detector is a device that detects heat and can be either electrical or mechanical in operation. The most common types are the thermocouple and the electro-pneumatic, both respond to changes in ambient temperature. Typically, if the ambient temperature rises above a predetermined threshold, then an alarm signal is triggered.
http://www.answers.com/heat%20detector
Is there an Audible Fire Alarm Installed inside my Flat?
Yes. There are audible smoke and/or heat detectors within each private residence. Exact specifications may vary slightly between flats. These detectors will make a loud piercing noise when they detect excessive smoke/heat within the immediate surrounding area of the internal sensor.
The detectors are run on mains electricity, with a battery backup system in case of power outages. It is "usual" for the alarm to make beeping noises at regular intervals when the battery requires changing.
It is strongly advised that you check your smoke/heat detectors regularly to confirm that they are working. It is not advisable to tamper with, or cover any detector. This could void your building and contents insurance in the case of a fire causing damage to you and/or your property.
